


Baby Steps

by LucysPromDress



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Destiel Promptober, M/M, Professor Castiel, Professor Dean Winchester, Promptober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 09:05:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucysPromDress/pseuds/LucysPromDress
Summary: Professor Winchester has a crush on Professor Novak. Drama ensues (sort of).Destiel Promptober Day No. 22 Prompt: College/Teacher





	Baby Steps

The morning sunlight streamed in the tall glass windows of the History building, leaving little floating dust particles in its wake as Dean crossed through each beam to enter the hall that his classroom was located in. The light there was dim and artificial, probably giving him some fake-light-induced-disease that would show up after he’d retired to a beach somewhere and was spending his days drinking his hard liquor out of coconuts. That was his luck.  
  
Dean looked down at the man seated cross-legged on the floor of the hallway reading a book and his reaction was almost automatic: excitement. Not of the sexual variety — well, maybe of the sexual variety too — but it was different. Seeing Castiel Novak, just seeing him, was a thrill. Of course, Dean was disgusted that internally he would turn into a teenage girl the moment he realized they were close, but he was glad that he could play it cool. Keep his heart-eyes at bay while they spoke.  
  
“Good morning,” Dean said casually as he passed, removing his keys from the pocket of his trousers and inserting one easily into the door of his classroom. Getting no response he glanced back as he pushed his door open and flicked on the light switch at the door. “Good morning, Mr. Novak,” he repeated, louder this time, giving him a lazy half-grin when his deep blue eyes met his green. “Are you locked out?”  
  
“Good morning, Mr. Winchester,” the seated professor replied in his sexy, gravelly, whiskey-drenched voice, standing up and shoving his book in the back pocket of his jeans and jiggling the doorknob behind him to demonstrate. “I am. Someone jammed something into the lock and broke it off in there and now I can’t get my key in. I might have to cancel my first class if maintenance doesn’t take care of it before eight.”  
  
Dean shook his head and frowned walking over and bending down enough to peer into the lock. “You’re welcome to wait in here. Sit in a real chair. Keep me company until my class starts.” _Blue eyes_ , he added silently. What the fuck was that? Blue eyes? He was even dweeby in his own head.  
  
Castiel nodded his thanks and grabbed his shoulder bag from the floor, slipping into Dean’s room just behind him. “I can’t figure out why someone would try to break into the room. If it were singularly me that used that room and there was a possibility that I had exams or — something in the desk, I could see. But there are two other professors that hold class there on the days I’m not here and at night. It had to be done out of spite.”  
  
“Which professor was it meant for though?” Dean was taking his things out of his bag and organizing them on his desk in an order that made sense to him. “Who pissed who off?”  
  
Castiel grinned. “Well, I don’t believe any of my students have a grudge, not yet anyway. There are unfortunately a few ladies with crushes that I’ve had to turn down. That could be something to think about.”  
  
Dean could see why. The man was gorgeous. Smart and not pretentious. Kind. And he had hipbones to die for. Dean had seen them once when Castiel reached to a high self to grab down a globe and his t-shirt had ridden up, showing off his flat stomach and sharp hipbones to anyone who was looking. And he definitely wasn’t the only one looking.  
  
“Teacher and student not a kink of yours?” Dean joked.  
  
Castiel laughed. “Oh yeah, diddling my students is the whole reason I got into teaching,” he took a seat on the edge of Dean’s desk. “No, seriously, no students for me. I happen to like my job. And, the ladies are the wrong gender.”  
  
Dean looked up quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly as he caused Castiel to jump. The tone of his question was no better. “You’re _gay_? The hot redhead that brings you food all the time. Not your girlfriend?”  
  
“I — no. She’s my sister Anna. Married. She likes to feed me, I guess?” Castiel jumped down from the desk as a student ambled into the classroom. “I’m going to go put a note on the door and let my class know it’s canceled. Thank you for putting up with me while I waited.”  
  
And then he was gone. Not forever, of course, they taught at the same community college right across the hall from each other. Their work schedules were nearly the same. The friendly banter had been nice, a comfortable familiarity that happened after you’d been friendly acquaintances for two years. But right there at the end, when Castiel had leaned in a bit closer as if he were telling him a secret, what in the hell had happened? Castiel had suddenly sounded spooked, and all but ran out of there the first chance he had.  
  
The last few minutes of the conversation was replayed in Dean’s mind as he tried to figure it out. “Son of a bitch.” He wondered if he looked as horrified as he’d sounded when he’d blurted his ‘you’re gay?’ accusation slash question out.  
  


***

Noon couldn’t come fast enough. Dean knew that Castiel was back across the hall because he’d heard his voice talking to a passing student as he often did, around ten or so this morning as classes were taking in. The misunderstanding between them seemed to just sit, like a real and tangible thing between their classrooms, laying there waiting for Dean to pick it up and fix it. And he had to. He could see that Castiel had mistaken his reaction, and he could see why, but he had to clear it up. This was a guy he liked, this was a guy he was attracted to, Dean couldn’t let him think because of his stupid, stupid tone, that he was a homophobe.

The classroom door was flung open wide and Dean watched as the last stragglers exited the room, laughing a something Castiel said to them. He walked across the hall and found Cas, seated behind the desk putting his books ito his bag to leave for the afternoon, a hint of a smile still on his lips. Dean lifted his hand and rapped on the door as he entered, letting Castiel know he was there.

“Mr. Winchester, how can I help you?” Castiel stood and continued to pack his bag.

“I think we had a misunderstanding this morning and I wanted to clear things up.”

“Oh?” Just ‘oh’. And a minute lift of his eyebrows as he looked at Dean curiously.

“Yeah, I — ” Dean had rehearsed what he was going to say in his head for a few hours, but now it seemed like he had forgotten it all. _Come on dude, it’s not like you’re asking him out._ And then an insane thought occurred to him: what if all those times over the years Castiel had invited you out for a drink, to grab a bite to eat — all the invitations that you had refused — what if each time he had been asking you out? “I’m bisexual.”

Castiel blinked at him a few times and laughed a little. “I — congratulations?”

“No. I mean, I’m not a homophobe. I figured out that was why you ran out of my room this morning and I just wanted to tell you — if you’re gay, I’m okay with it and I’m not so straight myself.”

“I didn’t _run_. I exited quickly.” Castiel’s smile faltered a bit. “I had a bad experience with someone when I told him I was gay. He reacted kind of like you did — stunned — and later I found my car windows smashed and homophobic slurs spray painted on the sides. In pink. This morning I flashed back to him and it spooked me. I wasn’t going to mention it to you again.”

“I’m not like that. Even if I were straight I wouldn’t — that’s just not me. I mean I’d rather take you to lunch instead.”

“Mm, I think I can do lunch,” Castiel said, shouldering his bag as he reached for Dean’s hand to lead him out of the classroom. “Bacon cheeseburgers at the diner down the street?”

“I absolutely see a second date in our future.”


End file.
